Modern Languages Blog

Councils should encourage immigrants to learn English instead of routinely translating documents into foreign languages, Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, said yesterday. Ms Kelly said that translation had been used too frequently and could become a ‘crutch’ that discouraged integration. The practice enabled new immigrants to avoid learning English when they first arrived, meaning that they never did, she said.

Ms Kelly said that there were cases ’such as in a casualty ward’ in which translation was necessary, but that learning and using the English language was key to helping migrants to integrate.

Read this article on the Times Online website.

Categories: English as a second or foreign language